Chuck vs the Rescue
by MacGateFan
Summary: Sarah and Casey rescue a captured Chuck. There may be more whump and H/C than a plot here...


Title: Chuck vs the Rescue

Author: MacGateFan

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimers: All characters are property of NBC and others who are not me.

"Sarah, as far as rescues go, this one sucks!" Chuck told her as they hid, dodging bullets. "I mean, don't get me wrong I'm grateful you guys came after me and all but this is horrible!"

Sarah glanced back at him. "I have to agree with you there, Chuck. Just remember the plan came from Casey."

"I heard that!" Casey growled over the radio. "Walker, head down the corridor behind you. You should have a clear shot to the back exit."

Chuck felt dizzy as he got to his feet. Being drugged and tortured would do that to you. He didn't think he said anything but he really couldn't be certain. Luckily Sarah had been able to get the security camera video and they would be able to tell if he had. Chuck prayed he didn't because the NSA would probably have Casey kill him.

"Are you with me, Chuck?" Sarah asked, holding his arm.

He nodded and followed her down the opposite direction of the gunfire. The corridor seemed very long at this point and his head ached as they neared the door. Sarah seemed preoccupied with shooting the people behind them that she didn't see the person coming up on the left. Chuck kept himself between Sarah and the man who yanked him by the arm and slammed him into the wall. His head hit it with a sickening crack.

"Chuck!" he heard Sarah exclaim as he sat there in a daze. He was pretty sure he was going to lose consciousness. Chuck heard more gunfire, which was really loud up close and made him cringe in pain. Soon Sarah was helping him to his feet.

"We're almost out of here, Chuck, stay with me!"

He blinked. "Right here."

It seemed like forever but when they were some distance from the building Sarah contacted Casey. "Light it up."

Chuck stood there swaying a bit at the light show. It was bright and hurt his head to watch. He closed his eyes as he tried to quell the nausea he felt. Sarah was still talking to Casey and all he wanted to do was get into his warm bed and sleep forever. He had lost all track of time and wasn't even sure if it was the same day he was taken.

"Sarah."

"Just a second, Chuck."

"Sarah, I can't…" he trailed off dropping to his knees and got sick.

"Shit," she muttered. "I'm sorry! Casey, get ready to go and we need to take Chuck to the hospital."

"No, I'm okay," Chuck replied once he felt a little better. "I don't want to have to lie to Ellie about what happened again."

Sarah frowned, her hand on his back. "Chuck, you're going to have to either way. Especially when she sees you."

Something snapped in Chuck. Ignoring all the pain and weakness he felt, he got to his feet and glared at Sarah. "No! I can't do this anymore! I can't lie to my family and friends and live with myself! My sister thinks I'm pushing her away and my best friend hardly wants to do anything with me. As you and Casey are so fond of reminding me, I am not a spy! I'm just… Chuck."

He felt bad for yelling at her and wondered if it had anything to do with the concussion he had. Ellie did say it could cause irritability but that didn't excuse the fact that he did. Chuck frowned at himself and was about to apologize when a sharp pain pierced his skull and he was back on the ground.

"Chuck!" Sarah exclaimed. Her head seemed like it was floating above him. He smiled at her apologetically and closed his eyes.

"Casey, I need your help. Chuck just lost consciousness."

"Damn it!" he cursed. "On my way!"

Walker was still trying to wake him up when Casey arrived. He frowned at the state of his charge. The kid had been gone for almost 72 hours and he looked it. Right now he didn't care what Walker thought as he picked him up off the ground. Yeah Casey had grown fond of him so what?

"The clean-up crew should be here in about 15. Do you want to stay or should I?"

Casey decided to stay but before going they managed to concoct a decent cover story considering the fact that Chuck had been missing for the last three days. They decided that Sarah and Chuck went on a last minute trip to a nearby spa and he slipped in the sauna.

So it wasn't glamorous for Chuck but at least it was Chuck-like. With a sigh Sarah drove to the hospital. She thought about what he said to her before he passed out. While she knew head injuries could cause irrational behavior she was pretty certain that those were really Chuck's thoughts on the matter.

Sarah felt bad that she couldn't just be there for him. He obviously need to talk to someone about how much his life changed. She saw how upset he was when it found out it was Bryce who sent him the Intersect. He hid it well but Sarah knew it was tearing him up inside.

She was just scared to get too close. That's what happened with her and Bryce and he went rogue. It wasn't that she thought Chuck would go rogue but what if it came down to him being tortured, this time for the Intersect, or killing him would she have the courage to do so?

She already knew the answer to that.

Sarah glanced over at Chuck and noted that, even unconscious he was in pain. He was shivering and very pale. Now she wondered if a real hospital was going to be a good idea considering he'd been tortured. She took a deep breath and called Beckman.

"Agent Walker. Major Casey told me you found the Intersect. How's he doing?"

"He's unconscious right now, but considering his condition our current cover story won't work. We're going to need a secure facility with physician who has clearance."

"Understood, Agent Walker. The information will be sent via a secure message."

Once the message arrived Sarah turned around. She was pulling up in front of the building when Chuck finally stirred. A doctor and two nurses came out with a gurney. Sarah got out and opened the passenger side door. "Chuck?"

His eyes blinked open. "Sarah? I'm dizzy."

"I know you are. We're at the hospital so you need to let the doctor help you okay?"

"K."

It would be another hour before Sarah knew anything about Chuck's condition. She looked up from her phone when she heard her name. "Dr. Franklin," she said standing. "I didn't know you were here."

"I transferred a few months ago. And before you ask I do have clearance to know all about Chuck's condition before and after he was captured. The rest of the staff, however, do not. They only know that he was captured and tortured."

Sarah nodded. "Thank you. How is he doing?"

"He was a bit dehydrated so we're giving him some fluids now. He has some bruised ribs and a few cuts, but the most concerning is the concussion. I could see that he was hit in the back of the head multiple times as there a few knots back there. Only one of them bleed heavily. He woke up only once but he was very confused and disoriented. He may not even remember what happened."

Sarah didn't like the sound of this. "When will he regain consciousness?"

"At this point not anytime soon. We're getting ready to do an MRI to see the extent of the damage. I know that his situation requires discretion on the part of his family, but I would be advise to see if we can get them here. Just in case."

She nodded and thanked the doctor who headed back to his patient. Sarah couldn't believe what she was hearing. 'Just in case'? Could that mean Chuck may never wake up? If that's the case then she really need to get Ellie and Devon there.

"Walker." She turned to see Casey but she didn't like the expression on his face. He looked pissed. "I just watched the video. It was bad. I'm actually surprised the kid held up."

Sarah frowned. "What do you mean by that?"

"They beat him pretty good and kept knocking him on the back of his head when he wouldn't answer their questions. He told them nothing. Luckily they didn't seem to start the actual torture until earlier today just before we got there."

She wasn't sure if that was lucky or not. Luck would be her doing her job and keeping Chuck from being kidnapped in the first place! "Casey, Chuck's concussion is so bad he may not remember what happened. He may not even wake up."

If Casey wasn't angry after watching the video he certainly was now. "Those bastards!"

"Dr. Franklin said we may want to call his family," Sarah added.

"Whoa, Walker. That maybe jumping the gun, don't you think? What happens if Bartowski wakes up after bringing them here?"

"And what happens if he doesn't? What am I supposed to tell Ellie when starts wondering where her little brother went off to that got him killed? What am I supposed to say when she asks what happened to him?"

Before Sarah could stop herself she burst into tears. She wasn't sure when she cried for someone like that. She couldn't even remember crying that hard when her grandparents died. Surprisingly she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Walker, you need to calm down. I'm not happy about any of this either, but Beckman is coming here so you don't want her to see you like this."

She nodded talking several deep breaths to calm herself but she couldn't look Casey in the eye after that display. "You're... right, Casey. We'll talk to Beckman to see how she wants to precede. Do you know when she'll get here?"

"About an hour. Go get cleaned up. I'll call you if anything changes with Chuck."

Sarah didn't show her surprise at Casey's use of Chuck's first name. She knew how much the NSA agent actually cared about him whether he wanted to admit it or not. She could tell just by how pissed he was at the people who tortured him.

"Thanks, Casey," she said.

When Chuck finally woke up he was surprised to see he was in a hospital bed. The last thing he remembered was talking to Ellie before he left for the Buy More. He glanced at the clock. It was four in the morning? How was that possible? He didn't even get up until nine.

Obviously something happened to him since he was in the hospital. Chuck looked around and found the nurse call button. A young girl about his age came in looking all chipper. Way chipper than he felt at the moment. "Mr. Bartowski, it's good to finally see you're awake. I'll just check your vitals and get the doctor for you. Would you like some ice chips?"

Chuck didn't answer her. Not when he saw the date on the dry erase board hanging on the wall across from him. April 25, listed right above his nurse's name. Had he missed almost a month? What the hell was going on here?

"Um... Missy?"

"Are you feeling okay, Mr. Bartowski?"

He stared at her as if she had two heads. Did she really just ask him that? "I just realized that I lost a month of my life so no, not feeling very okay right now."

"Missy, I've got this. Room 435 needs you right now." She nodded and left. "Chuck, I'm Dr. Franklin. What's the last thing you remember?" he asked checking his eyes with a pen light.

"Talking to my sister about a month ago. What happened to me?"

Chuck listened as the doctor explained that he works for General Beckman. He then told Chuck he'd been captured and tortured. He certainly didn't remember any of that. "Where are Sarah and Casey?" Chuck asked. "How do I know I'm still not captured?"

"There's a phone right next to you. You're more than welcome to call Agent Walker if that makes you feel comfortable. I already did to let her know you were awake. I felt it necessary for her to be here."

He relaxed a bit, leaning back on the pillow. "Sorry, I tend to get paranoid nowadays."

Dr. Franklin smiled. "It's understandable. You had a serious concussion and slipped into a coma while you were getting an MRI. We told your sister that you were in a car accident. She doesn't know you're awake yet, though. We'll wait until the morning when she comes to visit you."

"Thanks Dr. Franklin."

"You're welcome. I'll see about getting you a light meal. After you talk to Agent Walker I still need you to get some rest. Being in a coma doesn't mean you were getting restful sleep."

Once the doctor was gone Chuck was left alone with his thoughts. He didn't want to remember the torturing but he hated that he was missing an entire month of his life. He sighed as he closed his eyes. Chuck was hungry but apparently sleep was needed more.

Chuck's dreams were his memories coming back to him. He saw himself leaving home and heading out to Casey's car. Before he could even leave the courtyard someone grabbed him and shoved a rag in his face. He recognized the sweet smell as he lost conscious, hoping it was just Jeff playing around.

He woke up in a lab and tied to a chair. His head ached from the chloroform. Two men stood in front of him. One looked like muscle and the other was dressed like a doctor. Chuck highly doubted the guy had gone to any sane medical school.

Muscle was glaring at him as if daring Chuck to move. He was definitely not going to move. Besides it wasn't like there was anywhere he could go. When Chuck refused to answer any of their questions, that's when Muscle got pissed. He kept punching him in the stomach and back.

Eventually he got even angrier and kept hitting Chuck in the head. He was dizzy and everything was blurry. He even threw up a few times but Muscle didn't care and neither did the evil doctor. Just thinking about it made Chuck want to throw up.

Before he knew what was happening Chuck's eyes snapped open and he leaned over the bed to do just that. He felt dizzy and felt himself falling forward but he never hit the floor. Strong arms caught him. "I've got you, Chuck!"

"S-Sarah?" Chuck whispered shakily. "I-I remembered everything."

"It's okay, Chuck. You're safe now!" she told him as she helped him back into the bed. Sarah then reached over to pour some water for him. He accepted the cup and once he finished it Chuck felt much better.

"Sorry."

She shook her head, placing a hand on his forehead as he closed his eyes. "You don't to apologize, Chuck, you've been through a lot."

Chuck took a breath and looked at her. "What if I don't want to be the Intersect anymore?"

"I wish we could help you with that, Chuck, but we don't even know how to get it out of you."

"I know," he replied. Chuck suddenly felt really drained. "I think I want to try and get some sleep, but... maybe you could stay?"

Sarah smiled, squeezing his hand. "Of course I can."

He cleared his throat. "And maybe we could get someone in here to clean up my mess?"


End file.
